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The Birds
I had to write somthing more me-ish (is that a word?)
Birds are the only animals in the world that have feathers. Their bones are hollow and that allows them to fly with ease. Some birds can be as large as a ostrich, weighing up to 150 kg and living up to 81 years, (parrots can live as long as a human, possibly longer!) Or as small as the bee hummingbird, it's only 2.5 inches long tail included. Only a few of the 2500 species are named on this site. Ordnithology is the study of these magnifisent creatures.
| herring gull |
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| (larus argentatus) |
The ansestor of al birds os archaeopteryx. a desendent of the dinosaurs. This small, feathered reptile was about 15 inches in lenth and ate small insects. Unfortunatly archaeopteryx has been extinct for thousands of years.
Some of us tend to favor the more exotic, colorful type birds, but the ordinary, everyday birds are just as interesting. Take the herring gull for example, have you ever wondered what the red spot on it's beak was for? When a chick pecks at this spot, the parent regergitates (barfs) its food out into the chick's mouth. (Yeah, I know, it's gross) Their feathers are a dappled grey for about five years then they turn snow white.
Although it may seem that their is only one species of seagull, there is actually many different birds. The glacous and the herring gull look mostly the same to the untrained eye. Herrings have black wing tips, where the glacous has light grey tips. (got that Claudia?)
| this looks like Nikki |
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| but it isn't |
Nikki my budgie can say at lest fifteen different words. Budgies are small parrots, and like most of them, they can speak the human language. Once when my aunt (which one can remain anyotimous) kept on bringing this nasty pasta over we taught him to say "no lasagna!" then she came over and he said it in front of her, good thing she couldn't understand Nikki because of his budgie accent. He also looked real innocent.
He has a real strange personality (just like his owner). Sometimes he will come out by himself and walk around, when he has enough he knows how to climb the table cloth and go back home. When he's out usually he can be found under the table with my grandma or just running around eating bricks. When Nikki needs more seeds, he skwaks until his voice is hoarse, or he just screams for the heck of it. Now we got a new container and it keeps refilling itself and he keeps eating and eating and eating soo much that his crop is bulging out of his face.
Occationally, budgies go into heat, and Nikki is in it right now, then you have to use caution, a little move can sometimes trigger courtship. Nikki tried to mate with my hand, and it was the grossest thing that ever happened in my whole entire life. Mom said not to stop him or else he will become 'frusterated'. I'd rather him be frusterated then take it out on my hand!
Some may find it strange, but my favourite feature in birds are the feet. How would you like to have a toe thats bigger than you shin? And your whole foot has only four toes, with nails that stick out so far that you can get them caught in the carpet? Not to mention that they're covered in scales. Some may think "Eww, thats nasty" or "Thats just weird" but hey, I can't change your mind, besides, I like them that way. Then, there are the feathers. Imagine that you're whole body was covered in feathers. you can feel each prick too. Almost like hair but in a different way. Once around every three months, you shed them. It's itchy and very uncomfortable. This is how birds feel every day of their lives; but to them, it's like having hair. (this paragraph can relate to humans if you change the feather bit with hair.)
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